Maharshi Dayanand fearlessly propagated 'swadharm, swabhasha, swaraj' in an era when it was prohibited: Shah

Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday that Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati fearlessly propagated swadharm, swabhasha and swaraj in the pre-independence era when talking about these was prohibited.By establishing the Arya Samaj, he awakened the soul of the country which had been in slumber for years and was the first one after Ved Vyas to revive the Vedas, Shah said at its 148th Foundation Day.It was a time when hardly anyone dared to speak about swaraj, swabhasha and swadharm for Indias independence.

Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday that Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati fearlessly propagated ''swadharm, swabhasha and swaraj'' in the pre-independence era when talking about these was prohibited.

By establishing the Arya Samaj, he awakened the soul of the country which had been in slumber for years and was the first one after Ved Vyas to revive the Vedas, Shah said at its 148th Foundation Day.

''It was a time when hardly anyone dared to speak about swaraj, swabhasha and swadharm for India's independence. But Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati not only spoke about them but he travelled across India campaigning for the movement and thereby inspiring many,” he said.

The home minister said that in spite of having Gujarati as his mother tongue and expertise in Sanskrit, he chose Hindi for his writings.

Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken inspiration from the life of Dayanand Saraswati to take the country forward on the path of making it a ''vishwa guru''.

Prime Minister Modi's vision for a new India borrows extensively from the life and works of the Maharshi, he added.

''The Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to celebrate the 200th birth anniversary of the great saint. The prime minister himself attended the celebrations on 12th February and expressed his reverence to the saint,” he said.

The home minister said India's history of freedom struggle can never be complete without the extensive narration about Swami Dayanand Saraswati's contribution. ''I am proud that I was born in the land from which Maharshi Dayanand hailed. Maharshi Ji shook up the nation that was in the clutches of superstitious beliefs and freed the nation from many practices that were against the greater interest of society. He demonstrated the truth with his book 'Satyarth Prakash','' Shah said.

When the country is celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, ''we must know that it was Maharshi Dayanand who had given the first call for Independence,'' he said.

Maharshi Dayanand started the intellectual and educational awakening of the country at a fast pace, remained inspiration for many revolutionaries, and started major social reforms, Shah said.

Shah said Maharshi Dayanand awakened India's soul by establishing the Arya Samaj.

He also said that Maharshi was the first person after the legendary Ved Vyas to revive the Vedas. “He ushered a cultural and intellectual renaissance in India and inspired many revolutionaries during the British Raj. Most importantly he led numerous social reform measures,” Shah said.

He lauded the initiatives taken by the Arya Samaj to promote natural farming.

The movement will not only help India save soil but will also protect the natural ecosystem by saving ''gau mata'' and the earth as a whole, he said.

''Even Prime Minister Modi is providing his support like a rock to this movement and initiating policy measures to free the soil from the effects of chemical fertilisers,” he said.

He also appreciated the Arya Samaj's efforts to spread the knowledge of the Vedas in the Northeast. “On account of the revolutionary measures initiated by the Arya Samaj in the field of education, today the children from the tribes of the Northeast are learning Sanskrit and involving themselves in Vedic yagnas. It has become possible only because of the efforts made by Arya Samaj,” the minister said.

The Arya Samaj is dedicated to illuminating the lives of the tribals with India's civilisational knowledge and no other organisation can achieve this feat, he said.